A COUNCIL has admitted it will never get back more than £500,000 after buying houses it doesn’t know what to do with.

Bosses from Burnley Council last year spent £508,000 on six properties in Melrose Avenue when it looked as if county education chiefs would site a multi-million pound ‘super-school’ there.

But the authorities have since been locked in talks after Lancashire County Council switched sites.

And now Burnley Council has admitted it will not get the money back from the county council and must try to sell the houses privately to recoup some cash.

A taxpayers’ campaign group has said the authorities made “errors” and should work better together in the future, while a top county councillor has accused Burnley members of being “stupid”.

The row follows Burnley Council’s decision last year to buy the privately-owned properties in Melrose Avenue to go with land it already owned next to the road and other homes in the street run by housing association Calico.

At the time, bosses believed Lancashire County Council was to build Hameldon Community College on the site but a site on the corner of Coalclough Lane and Rossendale Road was instead chosen for the 750-pupil school, sparking a major row.

Burnley Central West county councillor Tony Martin, who is also cabinet member for resources, said: “We told Burnley Council not to buy the houses but they were desperate to get us on that site and they went and did it anyway.

“There was no verbal agreement. They were stupid jumping the gun.”

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “A series of errors have been made which has landed innocent taxpayers with a hefty bill.

Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle added: “Burnley Council is disappointed Lancashire County Council has not been able to make a financial contribution to the abortive site assembly costs.

“In the longer term we will be looking to develop the wider site, while in the short term we will seek to offset our expenditure by selling the houses we acquired.”

Vali Patel, county council cabinet member for schools, said: “The county council understands Burnley Council’s disappointment.

"The county council gave full consideration to Burnley's request for recompense but due to other unforeseen additional costs, particularly in the economic environment, this has not been possible.”